1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display apparatus having the backlight assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display apparatus capable of reducing a frame size of the backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display apparatus having the backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus displays images by using liquid crystal having optical and electrical properties, such as an anisotropic refractive index, an anisotropic dielectric constant, etc. The LCD apparatus has various advantages, such as relatively thinner thickness, relatively lighter weight, relatively lower power consumption, relatively lower driving voltage, etc., in comparison with other types of display apparatuses, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a plasma display panel (PDP) and so on. Therefore, the LCD device is used in various fields.
The LCD apparatus includes an LCD panel. The LCD panel includes a thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate, a color filter substrate facing the TFT substrate and a liquid crystal layer disposed between the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate. When electric fields are applied to the liquid crystal layer, an arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer is altered to change optical transmissivity. As a result, images are displayed.
Also, an LCD apparatus requires a backlight assembly that provides the LCD panel with light, since the LCD panel of the LCD apparatus is not self-emissive.
The backlight assembly includes a lamp unit, a light-guide plate and at least one optical sheet. The lamp unit includes a lamp that generates light and a lamp cover that covers the lamp to protect the lamp. The light-guide plate receives light generated by the lamp to guide the light toward the LCD panel. The optical sheet is disposed over the light-guide plate, and the optical sheet enhances the optical properties of the light. The backlight assembly further includes a bottom chassis and a middle frame to receive the lamp unit, the light-guide plate and the optical sheet.
According to a conventional LCD apparatus, the LCD panel is disposed on the backlight assembly, and a top chassis is combined with the LCD panel, to protect the LCD panel.
Accordingly, there are three layers including a bottom chassis, a middle frame and a top chassis on the lateral side portions of the LCD apparatus. As a result, the frame size is increased. The frame size is further increased by an additional fixing member to fix the optical sheet to the bottom chassis.